REOCCURRING MEMORY
by ardavenport
"Younglings! Younglings!" Creche Master Mummeme clapped her hands. The twenty little ones stopped fidgeting and poking each other. They each clutched a training lightsaber that they had been given that morning.
When the little ones were silent and attentive, Mummeme bowed and stepped back. A broad shouldered woman in yellowish-tan tunic and tabbards stepped forward.
"I am Jedi Knight Tu-tok Breki. And the Creche Masters have told me that you have all done well and that you are ready and worthy enough to begin your lightsaber training." Twenty sets of eyes followed her as she strode before them. They were very young indeed, Breki thought as she spoke, some of them tiny. But they had all been selected because they had similar maturity in the Force.
"This is my Padawan Learner, Limanas-tah." Breki gestured to a thin young man in a brown tunic and with spotted skin markings and long sagging ears. "He will assist me in training you. The Creche Masters have shown you how to activate your sabers - - "
A short green lightsaber fizzed into life in the middle of the crowd. All the other crechlings ducked away from it. Somebody yipped.
"I did not tell you activate them yet," Breki said sternly. The green blade vanished. Breki waited with arms crossed until all the younglings stopped giggling and hooting and gave her their attention again.
"We shall begin with some simple defensive actions, and if you do well and mind these exercises I will show you some more advanced techniques. Now everyone must first line up in rows, so you each have enough room to practice."
'Advanced' was quite relative to this class. The most difficult techniques that these younglings were capable of learning would still be elementary to the youngest Padawan. But all sets of twenty eyes lit up at the word 'advanced'. They were young and eager to be older.
Limanas-tah arranged them all into four rows of five, spaced well away from each other in the big, well lit, exercise room. Breki strolled around them, occasionally reminding the littlest ones that they were to stay still and ignore what the others were doing.
When they were finally all ready and facing forward, Breki began by demonstrating a simple block, the lightsaber kept horizontal to the ground, sweeping upward, protecting the body.
Standing before the group Breki announced, "Activate your lightsaber now."
Twenty small sabers fizzed into life, but doing their own little dances, green and blue lines of light waving and pointing in all directions. Most of them weren't holding their sabers correctly. A few had not turned theirs on. She and Limanas-tah went through the rows, adjusting little hands, repositioning small arms and feet.
A few times a blade tapped her and she admonished the young one severely for carelessness. Though the low power weapons could only deliver a static-like sting, awareness of the blade was always the first and last lesson for all Crechlings. Breki could sense that they could feel their lightsabers through the Force, but most of them did not understand it, or realize why it was important.
Resuming her place before the rows, Breki lead them in the sweeping defense again. They all had their sabers activated this time and most of them were pointed the right way, but there was more arm flailing and hopping. Breki sighed, remembering that the Creche Masters had warned her that patience was the first and last lesson for all teachers of younglings.
They went through the lesson several times. They improved marginally and they also discovered new errors to make as they grew more confidence with swinging their sabers. One small boy with messy brown hair and missing front teeth enthusiastically kept repeating the block while the other Crechlings waited impatiently for individual guidance. He did it passably well, compared to the others, but Limanas-tah had to admonish him to stop when he jumped too to close to his neighbors. They were all supposed to take a fighting stance and stay in place, but most of them added bounces and hops as if their little bodies could not be satisfied by this simple exercise.
Patience, patience, patience, Breki reminded herself as they began again. They learn by repetition, Master Mummene had said. Breki was just unprepared for how much repetition it took. But now the younglings seemed to have peaked. With each trial, the younglings became increasingly fidgety, their attention wandering to the others, the walls, the square pattern on the floor, their own feet.
Creche Master Mummeme walked toward her after a little D'Lumash girl stung her own forehead with her saber and began to cry. Limanas-tah hurried to comfort her. She soon quieted and grim-faced stood at attention again.
"Perhaps you should move on to something new?" Mummeme suggested kindly in her ear. Breki grimaced. The youngling's form was terrible and increasingly so. Breki wondered if they were truly ready for this. "Perhaps if you teach them to salute each other they would be more receptive?"
Breki took the hint. She should have started with the salute. It was the first thing in any lightsaber form or exercise. It had been the first thing she had learned, when she was the crechling picking up her first lightsaber. And swinging it in wonderful circles all around her. Breki remembered clearing quite a large section of floor before someone stopped her whirling.
She bowed her thanks to Mummeme who smiled back and returned to her seat by the wall. Breki's eyes narrowed. Now she recalled that it had been a younger Mummeme who had been minding the Crechlings on her own first day, years ago. There seemed to be a hint of memory in the Creche Master's peaceful smile.
She and Limanas-tah assembled the younglings again, but now paired them so they could practice bowing, igniting their sabers and holding them straight up to their partner. This exercise went much better, producing many happy smiles among the younglings. Until a few of them decided that there needed to be more and swung their sabers at the young one opposite them.
One Twi-lek girl got hit and started to wail, two other younglings ducked, but the little Human boy with the missing front teeth used the blocking move that he had repeated over and over and deflected the saber coming at him. The block was poorly executed with his two hands clutching the saber hilt and he was almost knocked over, but he clearly knew what the block was for.
The attacking younglings were admonished and moved to the front row where they could be better watched. But the incident gave Breki an idea of what she would end this session with.
"Now, we will finish with one more thing," she said when they were all facing her again. Suddenly she lunged forward, slashing her saber downward. Some of the younglings audibly 'ooh'ed. Pleased she had them do it several times in place. They were still uncoordinated, but eager. Many of them added extra swings, but nobody hit anything this time.
At last, Breki had Limanas-tah assemble them into one single line and she stood at the head.
"Now, to finish, you will fight me. You may attack." She lunged and slashed downward. "Or you may defend." She swung her blade upward across her body.
At Limanas-tah's urging they came forward, one by one.
Slash-attack. The tip barely touched Breki's blade and only did so because she lowered it at the last minute.
Slash-attack. Bounce. Slash-attack. This one got in two hits before Limanas-tah hustled her along.
A hesitant Gran youngling came forward with her lightsaber held rigid at an angle across her body. Breki swiftly tapped the stiffly held blade, keeping her own weapon well away from the young one who instantly whirled and ran back to the Creche Master as soon as the saber blades crackled in contact.
Slash-attack.
Slash-attack.
Slash-attack.
Defend-tap.
Defend-tap.
The defenses were stiff, almost motionless and most of the attacks were wild, the younglings made the common mistake of aiming for her blade and not for her. Patience, patience, patience, Breki silently told herself.
The little Human boy with the missing front teeth came running forward with his lightsaber hilt deactivated. Surprised, Breki backed up a step, her saber held high up away from him. He charged into her. She felt as if the Force was puffing at her with a little whoosh.
"Ouch!"
The boy had swung his saber down, but only activated it at the last minute, hitting her knee with a sting of static. This one knew that he was supposed to attack his opponent, not the lightsaber blade.
"Ow! Ow!" The boy kept attacking her knees. But she couldn't kick or push him away; he was too small. The other younglings started to cheer and laugh.
"Qui-Gon! Qui-Gon!" Mummeme rushed up and seized the little menace by his tunic and took the saber away from him. He instantly quieted and immediately looked guilty while Breki rubbed her knees. Mummeme softly spoke to him and he gulped. Breki could not hear the words she spoke now, but she clearly heard in her head the words that the Creche Master had said years ago.
'Now Breki I know you are sorry for hitting everyone, and you want to apologize to Master Therak and the class for it.' Little Breki, back then, almost tearfully did so.
Now this small youngling bowed before her and began his own apology. Standing behind him, Creche Master Mummeme's gentle, knowing smile was shaded with memory.
Patience was not the only lesson to be learned from the younglings. And the Creche Masters.
~~~##~~~##~~~##~~~##~~~##~~~##~~~
"Ooh!"
Knight Qui-Gon Jinn's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as the youngling's lightsaber suddenly ignited upward, hitting him in the crotch. Still bent over from his attempt to help the little one up after falling from a too wild and enthusiastic attack, Qui-Gon let his own saber go out.
Unfortunately, the next young one, mistaking this as a signal for his turn, rushed forward and tapped him on the head.
"Ow!" Qui-Gon's free hand went to his head. Creche Master Mummeme and Qui-Gon's apprentice, Boliv, rushed forward to snatch up the younglings before they could do more damage. Mummeme took charge of them both and began softly speaking to them. Boliv stood by her tall, bearded Master. His eyes watered and he looked like he was holding something in before he finally sighed, expelling the pain. At least most of it.
Boliv stood by her Master sympathetically. The two younglings who had attacked him looked quite repentant and now stood at attention before him. Mummeme stood just behind them, her hands resting on their shoulders.
They bowed and apologized for acting out of turn. Qui-Gon gravely accepted, bowing back to them. But Boliv was surprised when Qui-Gon's gaze lingered on Creche Master Mummeme's aged face, her own smile quite enigmatic with some wordless communication between them.
Boliv looked from one to the other of her elders and wondered what they knew.
~~##~~~##~~~ END ~~~##~~~##~~
(This story was first posted on tf.n 9-Sept-2007)
Disclaimer: All characters and situations belong to George and Lucasfilm; I'm just playing in their sandbox.